Week 1 - Let's Get Real

So here I am tipping this scales at just over 200lbs. I never thought I would see the day, but here I am and it's time to face the facts. I delivered my 3rd (and last) child exactly 6 weeks ago today. I thought surely by now I would be somewhere around 180, but the harsh reality is that I've lost only 6lbs from the day I delivered to now.

Over these last 6 weeks, I've gone back and forth on which approach to take with this weight loss. I've gained and lost a million pounds over my 29 years. I've done it every different way you can imagine, but the most successful way for me has been starvation. That worked really well when I had about 30 lbs to lose, but I have 78 lbs to lose now and I'm totally out of shape. About 2 weeks after having the baby, I stopped eating in hopes of dropping a quick 20 lbs by now, but it isn't working and it's not doing my healing body any favors. So...

This time I'm doing it right! We're talking workouts, vegetables, vitamins, the whole enchilada! This probably sounds pretty silly. I mean, why wouldn't I do it right, right? Well, this is actually a very big deal because I feel desperate. I feel awful NOW and I want relief NOW. In fact, I have a date with my husband that we have been planning for a LONG time in about 2 weeks, and honestly, working out and eating well won't help me to feel more comfortable in 2 weeks. I'm probably not going to feel more comfortable for several months. When feeling fat, every minute of every day feeling fat is miserable. So miserable, in fact, that it causes compulsive behavior, like buying diet pills at the grocery store when you know they aren't going to work, or vowing to stop eating until you get "skinny". Ultimately, for me desperation leads to more bad eating. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being out of control and tired of spending 90% of my thought process on self loathing and thoughts about my body. I'm done.

I've done a lot of research and have decided to tackle this problem 3 ways.

#1 - 24Hour Fitness - I've got to get strong and burn more calories. Sitting on my butt at home (doing blog entries ;-)) is making me fat!

#2 - BodyBugg Calorie Management System - I found out about this through my gym. Basically you wear a device that helps you figure out how many calories you burn throughout the day. It's not a heart rate monitor, but an actual gizmo that measures your metabolic rate based on 4 factors. If you haven't heard about this thing, you must check out their website. I've been using this for about a week now and love it.
(http://www.bodybugg.com/)

#3 - Clean Eating - This is the big one. I've committed to adopt a new way of eating for life. The way I've viewed food and nutrition in the past is totally messed up. I've spent my adult years going between eating nothing or eating too much. I don't know how to eat normally. I'm either losing or gaining weight. I cook for my family and then pop a Lean Cuisine in the microwave for myself instead of just making the correct portion of dinner for myself. I could lose weight on Lean Cuisines again, but if I don't learn to eat normally, I will be fighting this thing for the rest of my life. I'm ready to enjoy life again. I'm sick of the games. Clean Eating is simply eating food in it's natural form. There are a few rules, but they are really simple. This is the way bodybuilders and fitness competitors eat. I figure they know a little something about getting lean. For more info, check out http://eatcleandiet.com/.